AN: Starting a new job and recovering from the finale so these might come out a bit slower...but thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing!

Hayley pushed her hair from her eyes, pausing to sip from her beer. "Sorry, Cami, but I think I trust more in psychics than psychology."

"Do you believe that talking through your problems helps? Then I don't see why you'd be adverse to helping me out."

It was now the afternoon rush at Rousseau's but Cami had claimed a quiet table in the back to spread out her notes. Hayley had agreed to stick around and catch up but was a bit reluctant to contribute anything more to the project. "If you're focusing on the Mikaelsons," she said, "I don't see how I can help."

"You're close to them," said Cami. "To Klaus, obviously, but to Elijah too. I could really use that insight."

Hayley raised her bottle again, though it never met her lips. "Elijah and I aren't as close as you think," she said. "Not anymore."

"Want to talk about it?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"Yes, and no," laughed Cami, slamming her notebook shut. "I promise, no...shrink stuff. Just a good, honest talk - girl-to-girl."

That made Hayley ease up. "I have been hurting a bit for female friends. In the bayou, it's all tough guys and testosterone. And Rebekah...she's off in fairytale land. Happily, of course. But..."

"The Mikaelsons could use another sister," Cami joked.

They both laughed. "I don't think this town can tolerate anymore Mikaelsons," Hayley said. "I'm kinda with Klaus on this: his parents need to go."

Cami couldn't help. Her notebook crept open again.

"So much for girl talk," Hayley noted dryly. "It's fine. Keep it open. I know how much this project means to you."

"A compromise? I'll only use my notes as a reference, but you and I will be off the record. Nothing you say will go in the book, and I won't bring it up to Klaus - or Elijah."

Hayley sat down her beer. "Sounds fair," she said. "But how does that actually help you?"

"It'll give me...perspective," Cami figured. "And hopefully you as well."

Hayley eyed her directly. "I'm in, but two rules. One: we talk about the present, not the past. Do you get me?"

Cami nodded. She knew Hayley still struggled with the loss of her child and that she herself wasn't qualified to address such a tragedy. It wouldn't be fair to Hayley to even suggest she understood what she had gone through.

"Deal," she said. "And rule two?"

She watched as Hayley knocked back the rest of her drink. "You don't get to sit on the sidelines here. For every question you ask me, I ask one in return. Don't think I haven't noticed what's going on between you and Klaus. When he's around you, he's..."

"Less of a psychopath?'

"Almost a human being," Hayley said. But she threw in a smile and ordered them both another round. "It's strange, but he's...he's actually been really been there for me since...since..."

She couldn't quite finish the sentence. "Anyway, I think he understands how I feel," she said.

Cami raised her eyes slowly. "You mean he understands loss? And loneliness?"

"And that he's not the world's only hybrid anymore."

Hayley was breaking her own rules, and Cami appreciated it. Unlike Klaus, this wolf was willing to be vulnerable, but Cami was certain she'd get Klaus there as well.

She reset the mood. "Right. I'm not playing fair. It's your turn to pry into my private life."

"No need," Hayley said. "I'm sorry, Cami, but you're an open book."

"Oh, God - that bad?" They both laughed. "Do you think Marcel knows?"

"How you feel about Klaus?"

"I was going to say how Klaus feels about me," Cami said. "But I think I got my answer."

"My two cents? You might be with Marcel now, but what you started with Klaus has potential. You just...you just can't give up on him."

"You sound like Elijah there."

Hayley rolled her eyes as the waiter came around with their beers. "I know where this is going, so I'll give you what you want, Cami. Rebekah's not a storytale princess, Klaus isn't the Big Bad Wolf and Elijah isn't some savior on a white horse. They're just thousand-year-old kids with royally screwed up parents. But they're loyal and fearless, and they would do anything for each other. That doesn't excuse the bad things they've done, but there's the perspective you wanted. The Mikaelsons make mistakes and regret them like anyone else. They've just had to live with that regret for a lot longer than any of us."

It was a while before either said anything. "I think you're onto something," Cami smiled. "I'd just add one thing. They're not just thousand-year-old kids with royally screwed up parents, they're also still scared of those parents. Esther, and Mikael - the way Klaus freezes when I mention them; even Elijah goes quiet. There's no way I can begin to uncover the damage Esther and Mikael did to their children in a week. I'd need -"

"A thousand years?"

"Times twenty."

They finished their beers as Cami closed her notebook. "I should run. I'm supposed to meet Elijah now for a follow-up. A reschedule from yesterday."

Hayley looked up. "Have you heard from him since then?"

"Why? Want me to schedule a joint session for you two?"

Her suggestion was ignored as Hayley checked her phone. "Klaus is complaining that Elijah's not answering his calls."

"Should we be worried?" asked Cami.

"With Esther on the loose," Hayley answered. "Always."